Page 182 of The Queen’s Shadow

I was an asshole and a murderer, I knew that much, but I wasn’t a fucking rapist. Even I had lines I wouldn’t cross, and screwing someone without their consent was one of them.

If I did ever find myself in a position where Kasha had healed enough, that she did look at me in that way, I felt confident I would be able to ensure she felt safe.

But this part of her healing journey, where she was still so freshly broken and needed someone gentle, kind, and forgiving… I didn’t know how to be that person for her. I had never been any of those things and had no idea where to even start.

Raven had said to be nice to her, but every time I went anywhere near her, we ended up fighting, and I tended to say some stupid shit like I had the night before. Threatening to sleep in the same bed as her probably wasn’t helping with her recovery, and if she needed space to get better, then that’s what I was going to give her. Even if it was going against every single one of my instincts to leave her alone.

“Should she be sleeping this much?” I asked, feeling completely at a loss. Rhyalla shrugged.

“It’s only been a few days. Let her rest, but keep asking her to come train with you. I’ll see if I can get her to come with me for a walk around the community tomorrow.”

I stared at the closed door to her room, her catnip scent wafting down the hallway, beckoning for me to come closer, but I resisted.

“Alright.” I sighed, wishing I was better at shit like this. I resolved to change the subject, instead focusing on something I actually had control over. “Have we heard back from anyone yet?” I asked, heading into the guestroom to change out of my armor. After how today had gone, I probably wouldn’t be bothering to change into it again. I wouldn’t need it until the K’aalpa-kah could at least land a hit on me, which wouldn’t be anytime soon. Rhyalla kept talking to me, knowing I would be able to hear her through the door.

“You were right about Aiden. He’s on his way. Koda too.”

I pulled on a pair of shredded jeans and a white t-shirt, before heading back out into the living room and flopping down on one of the cozy couches. Rhyalla put a record on with soft bossa nova and curled into the couch opposite me.

“Knew it.” I beamed.

Aiden McGregor was the alpha of the wolf-shifter pack that ran the Scottish Highlands. I knew he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to get into a fight, even if it was with a hell bitch from the daemon realm. Koda Strongclaw, on the other hand, was leader of the bear shifter clan from western Canada. He had been close with my father, and I knew he would respond to a summon if I called him. I wasn’t sure he would agree to join the cause, but he would at least hear me out, if only out of respect for my old man.

“What about the others?” I asked and Rhyalla pursed her lips.

“The lions are coming, too.” She said and my eyebrows shot up in surprise. I hadn’t expected that. Kafil and Neema ran the lion shifter pride in Tanzania, and they had been my father’s biggest critics.

“No shit.” I said, and she nodded, her brow furrowing even further. “What?” I asked.

“They’re all coming, Rycon. Mei Lin and Malik too.” She said, and I didn’t know if I should be excited or stressed. I was going to go with excited. If Mei Lin brought the tigers, we were going to seriously be a force to be reckoned with. Malik surprised me. We had never gotten along… maybe because I had tried to hunt him once as a cub and the golden eagle shifter had never let it go… but if he agreed to join the war efforts, it would be awesome to have an air force led by him. He wasn’t a helpless little chick anymore. He was a certified badass now from what I had heard.

“Anaya also agreed.” Rhyalla said quietly, and my excitement suddenly turned to shock, and then to anger. I leapt up from the couch with a snarl.

“You invited Anaya!?” I snapped, unable to control myself. Rhyalla’s face hardened at my tone and she gave me a firm look.

“You said to invite all the others, so I did. You didn’t say not to include Anaya. Plus, we couldn’t very well invite all the other groups and leave out the serpents. It would have been taken as an insult.”

“Good!” I snapped. I didn’t want that fucking viper here. Not in Olkuyrbe. Not anywhere near Kasha. “She can’t come here.” I snarled.

“It’s too late, Rycon. She’s coming. They all are. They’ll all be arriving over the course of the next few weeks. Koda will probably be first.”

“Fuck!” I snarled, running my hand through my hair in frustration.

“I know you don’t like her, but I wasn’t expecting you to be this upset.” Rhyalla said, frowning. “What’s the big deal?”

I forced myself to stop chewing on my knuckle and quit pacing, before throwing myself back onto the couch with a groan.

“She works for Korrick.” I sighed in annoyance.

“Korrick is… that mercenary guy that you ran away to train with?” Rhyalla asked, frowning. I nodded.

“Yeah, he runs Ironclad… and he’s probably super pissed at me.” I muttered. The last I had seen anyone from my old life was when I had taken the hit on Raven. She had accidentally bound me to her, and I had disappeared off the face of the planet. These were not the type of people you could just ghost. Once you signed up, it was pretty much a done deal. No one just quit the Ironclad Company.

I hadn’t been too worried about it, up until now. Considering the fact that I was spending most of my time in The Dominion of Sin, and there was no way any of them would have been able to cross The Veil to find me.

Inviting one of them to Olkuyrbe was an entirely different story. It also didn’t help that Anaya and I used to fuck pretty regularly… I didn’t really want her anywhere near Kasha for that reason alone.

Fuck me!